Assistant attorney general says hunt is on for person who alerted gang members to flee

Updated 11:28 pm, Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman speaks during a press conference about "Operation Trojan Horse" drug bust on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, at The New York State Police Academy in Albany, N.Y. (Phoebe Sheehan/Special to The Times Union) less

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman speaks during a press conference about "Operation Trojan Horse" drug bust on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, at The New York State Police Academy in Albany, N.Y. (Phoebe ... more

Targets of a major drug investigation went into hiding last month after someone tipped them off about the undercover probe that led to charges against 20 gang members and associates, a state prosecutor said Wednesday.

When police swept through the city to arrest the indicted suspects last month, five were missing from their homes and authorities suspected word about the pending arrests leaked out.

In the last month, four of the five have been captured.

Assistant Attorney General Michael Sharpe said Wednesday that wiretap records show that some of the gang members were told about the case. He said the attorney general's office is investigating but has not identified who leaked the information.

Troy Police Chief John Tedesco said tipping off indicted suspects was "very serious breach," noting that police rely on surprise to capture suspects and minimize the risk of bloodshed.

"When you consider backgrounds, criminal histories and their propensity for violence ... I don't think any one of them would hesitate to use deadly force against an officer coming through the door. These were violent actors out in the community," Tedesco said.

Operation Trojan Horse, a yearlong undercover investigation into city drug dealing, led to charges against eight alleged members of the Young Gunnerz gang and 12 associates in early August.

Sealed grand jury indictments were opened, and 15 of the individuals, including a former Watervliet police officer accused of protecting the gang, were arraigned Aug. 4 on various counts of sales, possession and conspiracy.

Prosecutors have not said which or how many of the suspects were tipped off. It is a felony to divulge information contained in a sealed indictment.

Two of the missing five were soon apprehended and arraigned.

On Wednesday two more, Kenneth "Kenny" Ford, 25, of Waterford, and Joshua "Shellz" Lewis, 25, of Watervliet, were arraigned before Rensselaer County Judge Debra Young. Both pleaded not guilty.

Ford, who was found locally, faces 23 charges, including conspiracy and possession of a controlled substance. Lewis, who was tracked to North Carolina, faces 16 counts, including conspiracy, drug sales and possession.

Both were sent to the county jail without bail.

Rashad "Shotty" Thomas, 24, of Troy, who faces 12 counts, including conspiracy and sales, is still at large, Sharpe said.

The ex-police officer, Nicholas Pontore, 29, was accused of multiple counts of drug possession, conspiracy and official misconduct for allegedly providing protection to the drug network, according to a 39-count indictment. Pontore also is accused of purchasing various amounts of cocaine — some buys made while he was in uniform and on duty in a marked police car. Pontore was freed by Young on $100,000 bail.

Pontore abruptly resigned from his police job three months ago while he was under investigation for his ties to an alleged drug dealer, Donald Kodadar, who was reportedly affiliated with the Troy gang and lived in a residence owned by Pontore.

Kodadar is named in the indictment and arraigned with the others. But he was arrested earlier on the local charges in June.

The investigation showed the Troy street gang bought drugs in the Bronx and distributed them in the Capital Region, authorities said. During the yearlong investigation, which included wiretaps, undercover surveillance and the use of informants, police seized more than 1,000 grams of cocaine and more than 100 bags of heroin, prosecutors said.